U.S. Exports Rise to Record as Trade Deficit Shrinks

[SpartanDem]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — American manufacturers sold more cars, airplanes and industrial machinery in foreign markets in July, sending exports to a record high and pushing the trade deficit down to its lowest level in three months, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The trade deficit narrowed to $44.8 billion in July, down 13.1 percent from June, an improvement that reflected a 3.6 percent rise in exports to the record level of $178 billion. Imports dipped 0.2 percent to $126.9 billion as the bill for imported oil dropped 6 percent to $35.5 billion as crude oil prices fell.

The big jump in exports should provide critically needed support for growth at a time when the United States economy has been in danger of toppling into a recession.

Also Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of people seeking state unemployment benefits in the United States ticked up slightly last week, rising 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 414,000.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/business/economy/us-exports-rise-to-record-as-trade-deficit-shrinks.html?_r=1

[DreamSmoker]

1. Shit on Obama all week long..

Funny how this comes out the very next day after Obamas speech...
From TV to Radio.. The so called Conservatives who do nothing except talk and comment spent more than a week telling all who listen just how bad things are
and how Obama put us here...
Now the very next morning this little bit is now public...

[Javaman]

4. and it's part of the friday news dump...

yeah, the media isn't controlled by the right wing. :eyes:

[SkyDaddy7]

5. One would think this is good news...

But not here on DU, huh?

Seriously, people here on DU have turned Obama into enemy #1! SAD!

[cstanleytech]

8. Being on DU doesnt though automatically mean a

person is a democrat.

[msongs]

2. are jobs and their payroll value included under "exports"? nt

[fasttense]

3. Things are still very bad, these numbers are manipulated to make a disaster look merely annoying.

Most of this supposed trade is between different branches of the same multi-national corporation. So, it looks as if trade is happening when in actuality it is a way to hide money to keep from paying US taxes.

Besides these export numbers include natural resources and trash (Some foreign countries with fewer safety and environmental laws can force starving people to mine out precious metals and minerals from out of our trash.) New and old growth trees cut down in California, Oregon and Washington that are shipped off to Japan and China are counted too. The oil spilled, I mean pumped, out from the Gulf and Alaska and shipped off to England is also included.

Just a numbers game to make you think everything is just fine and dandy.

[Old Codger]

6. Shrinking economy

In order to justify importing more we would need to have people here with money to spend... Until they get more people working it should naturally continue along these lines... Same thing goes for companies to hire more here, it is a catch 22 need more working to give people money to raise demand for goods manufactured anywhere, here or abroad. Same thing applies to using tax breaks to get business to hire, if no one has any money to buy there is no demand therefor no need for more workers ad infinitum. (ad nausea also)

[DrunkenBoat]

7. Record exports, record unemployment.

Everything financial is a "record" when expressed in current dollars.